Comparison of time budget of behaviors between penned and ranged young cattle focused on general and oral behaviors

To consider cattle welfare, time budget of behaviors of young cattle in pen and pasture conditions were compared. Behavioral observations of 103 steers in seven pens and 1136 steers in six ranges were performed during daylight over 3 days in each rearing condition. The pen condition had Japanese Black × Holstein cross, and the pasture conditions had assorted breeds of Angus, Murray Grey, Shorthorn, Hereford, Santa Gertrudis and their crosses aged 5–15 months. The ranges varied in vegetation from extensive native pasture to intensive improved pasture. The daytime proportion of behaviors and activity patterns were compared between rearing conditions. The proportion of walking was much lower in the pen condition (1.0 ± 0.2%) compared to all pasture conditions (at least 9.4 ± 4.0%; all P < 0.05), but grooming (5.9 ± 1.2%), investigating (2.5 ± 0.2%) and tongue playing (1.1 ± 0.2%) covered the loss. Fluctuation patterns of the proportions of eating (P < 0.001) and resting (P < 0.001) were different between pen and pasture conditions, whereas the pattern of the proportion of walking was not different. The proportion of eating in the pen condition (32.4 ± 0.3%) was not different to that in one on the farm (42.2 ± 12.6%), which had a thick improved pasture. However, the proportion of eating in the pen condition (32.4 ± 0.3%) was lower than that in two farms (58.8 ± 5.0% and 61.6 ± 16.5%) with low pasture availability (both P < 0.05). The proportions of oral behaviors such as self‐grooming (3.9 ± 1.0%), allogrooming (2.0 ± 0.2%), licking objects (1.3 ± 0.4%) and tongue‐playing (1.1 ± 0.2%) compensated for the lack of eating. These results indicate that we can learn a well‐balanced proportion of behaviors for cattle by making comparisons of time budget of behaviors and activity pattern between various rearing conditions. In addition, it is indicated that cattle under pen conditions under a restricted feeding period might compensate for a lower time spent feeding by performing other oral behaviors.